A resolution passed by university chiefs last month that would allow public and private institutions of higher learning to raise tuition rates by as much as 10 percent has touched off fierce debate.
Three associations representing Taiwan's universities passed the tuition hike resolution in December. A forum of university presidents then signed off on the resolution on Jan. 11, and the proposal is being reviewed by the Ministry of Education for final approval.
"We live in an age of shrinking government subsidies for universities," Soochow University president Liu Chao-hsuan (劉兆玄) said at a seminar hosted by National Chengchi University on Tuesday to debate the proposed hike.
"But the responsibility for ensuring the quality of higher education rests with us, and in the absence of government funds, raising tuition is our last option," Liu said.
However opposition groups criticized university presidents for taking the matter lightly and for reportedly spending only 10 minutes to discuss the resolution before passing it.
"National Taiwan University president Lee Si-chen (李嗣涔) ignored the strong objections of the Coalition Against High Tuition and other associations, saying that the resolution had passed so quickly because of our joining the forum and discussing the issue [with university presidents]," coalition spokeswoman Chien Shu-hui (簡淑慧) said at the seminar.
"That was a blatant lie," she added.
A longtime proponent of tuition hikes, Lee said only universities that met strict fiscal criteria would be able to decide how much to raise their tuition fees.
He also suggested that "amid the tuition hikes, the education ministry could request that universities increase the amount of scholarships for disadvantaged students accordingly."
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai